Client

Hong Kong Children’s Museum Ltd.

Location

Sai Wan Ho, Hong Kong

Type

600 SQM Museum

Description

During the pandemic, many children were isolated at home, missing opportunities of play and exploration. As such, it is all the more important that effort is put into engaging our children once more. We designed the first home of The Hong Kong Children’s Discovery Museum in 2017, and are delighted to design its second home in Sai Wan Ho. The new space is located one floor above street level, with floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing the museum to be immersed in the urban fabric of Sai Wan Ho as well as allowing views into the museum from the street level.
The linear space of the museum allows us to divide the exhibits into zones while still maintaining visual access throughout the museum by using a central circulation spine. As such, both children and parents can have a clear visual map of the space at all times. Flanking the circulation spine are exhibits on both sides, some purposely positioned against the curtain wall to use the city as the backdrop of the exhibits. Tucked inside the museum, is a Cozy Corner, where the visual and haptic environment is purposely designed to have a calming effect.
In addition to the main exhibit space on the first floor, the ground floor entrance to the museum encourages interaction with the street life, using stainless steel panels to reflect and absorb the activities of the sidewalk into the ground floor cafe and multipurpose space. The stair connecting the two levels is designed as a homage to the Banyan Trees climbing structure of the museum’s first home.  Throughout the museum, the design aims to repurpose as much as possible from the museum’s first home.
HKCDM reminds us of the importance of inhabiting a tactile space and a physical world. It allows our children to engage, explore and experience. We are honored to be part of HKCDM’s effort to educate both parents and children of Hong Kong!